Best Dessert Spots in Akron, OH

After a delicious meal, there’s nothing that beats a sweet treat. From cupcakes to ice cream and cookies to cheesecake, there are plenty of tasty options to choose from when selecting a dessert. Our team at North Coast Mitsubishi of Akron created this guide to help you learn about some of the best dessert spots in the Akron, Ohio, area.

Pav’s Creamery

child lick handmade ice cream by Markus Spiske is licensed with CC0 1.0

Pav’s Creamery is your destination for everything ice cream in Akron. It offers a variety of frozen custard, hard ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet options that it makes fresh on-site each day. While the original location is in Akron, there are three additional locations throughout Ohio. Since first opening its doors in 1969, Pav’s Creamery has earned recognition as cleveland.com’s Best Ice Cream Shop in Great Cleveland and the Number 1 Dining Destination in Akron by TripAdvisor.

Pav’s Creamery offers many flavor options, including year-round favorites and rotating seasonal options. Some noted favorites of Akron locals include Nutella s’mores, peanut butter brownie, and salted caramel brownie. Before your visit, be sure to check out the flavor of the week options that are available each Monday through Sunday.

The menu at Pav’s Creamery includes more than your standard ice cream shop fare. It has gluten-free custard, dairy-free sorbets, and seasonally-flavored vegan ice cream. There are also several sundaes and milkshakes to enjoy, including specialty and classic options. Guests 21 years old or older may enjoy the adult milkshakes, which include custard or sorbet mixed with alcohol.

Location: 3766 Manchester Road, Akron, OH 44319

Hours: 12 pm. to 9 p.m. daily

Strickland’s Frozen Custard

Strickland’s Frozen Custard is a family-owned and operated Akron classic. Bill and Florence Strickland opened their first location in 1936. Bill developed his unique recipe for rich frozen custard, ice cream, yogurt, and sorbet, and he also created an ice cream machine that froze ice cream quickly, reducing how much air it could whip into the product. Today, their original 1936 Akron location is still in operation, and there are four additional locations throughout Ohio.

Strickland’s Frozen Custard’s menus vary by location, but the Akron location menu includes plenty of delicious options to try. If you’re in the mood for something simple, it offers a selection of cones, cups, milkshakes, and sundaes as ways to enjoy the rich ice cream. For something different, consider trying an Arctic Twister, a thick treat that blends ice cream with your choice of “twist-in,” such as candy or cookie pieces. To learn more about ice cream flavors, including the flavors of the day for the month, be sure to visit the Akron location page.

There’s more than just ice cream available at Strickland’s Frozen Custard. It also offers slushies, including the option to add ice cream on top of your slushie, banana bowls, and ice cream sodas. Consider trying one of its unique ice cream pies. These frozen handmade pies include a 9-inch pie shell filled with layers of ice cream to share among six to eight people.

Location: 1809 Triplett Blvd., Akron, OH 44312

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Sweet Mary’s Bakery

Sweet Mary’s Bakery is a woman-owned micro-bakery located in the heart of downtown Akron. It prides itself on supporting its local community, especially other small businesses. It aims to source high-quality, fresh ingredients locally to create its menu of small-batch treats. Sweet Mary’s Bakery also serves coffee made from freshly roasted beans from Akron Coffee Roasters.

The daily menu at Sweet Mary’s Bakery rotates every month. It typically offers a selection of pastries, cookies, cakes, and savory treats. Specific treats you may find to take home for dessert include French macarons, blondies, brownies, Big Chewy cookies, frosted sugar cookies, Texas sheet cake, cheesecake, and cinnamon rolls. While availability may vary, Sweet Mary’s Bakery also frequently has gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan options.

Location: 76 E. Mill St., Akron, OH 44308

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday

Tiffany’s Bakery

Tiffany’s Bakery is a family-owned and operated bakery with more than 40 years of experience serving the Akron area. Over the years, the bakery has received recognition like Best Bakery in Northeast Ohio by Fox 8 Hotlist and Beacon’s Best as voted by Akron Beacon Journal readers. It specializes in complex custom cakes, which you can request a quote for through its website or call the bakery to discuss your vision.

Stop by Tiffany’s Bakery to choose from its selection of delicious pastries. Options vary daily, but it typically offers slices of cake, cookies, doughnuts, and pastries made with puff pastry. Typical options that you can choose include popular cake flavors like a lemon cream loaf cake, chocolate cake with peanut butter icing, confetti cake with buttercream icing, and almond cake with a raspberry jam. Cookie options may include iced sugar cookies, creme pies, chocolate chip, and more, and it sometimes offers brownies and cupcakes. Other pastry options may include cinnamon twists, turnovers, and more.

Tiffany’s Bakery also serves lunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. The lunch menu includes a variety of deli sandwiches, wraps, and salads. Consider trying one of its signature lunch offerings, such as the peanut butter and jelly panini. If you want both lunch and dessert, the lunch combo may be for you. This includes your choice of two items like a half-sandwich, half-wrap, cup of soup, or side salad served with chips, a pickle spear, and a fresh-baked cookie.

Location: 620 Ridgewood Crossing, Akron, OH 44333

Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday

We’ve reached the end of our guide of some of the best dessert spots in the Akron, Ohio, area. What do you think of our list? Drop us a line to share your recommendation if we didn’t include your go-to dessert place. We may even update our guide to have your suggestion. At North Coast Mitsubishi of Akron, we’re proud to serve Akron locals like you and hope you learned about some new sweet treats to try.